Improvement in wool-washing machines



IUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES G. SARGENT, OF GRANITEVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOL-WASHING MACHINES.

Specication forming part vof Letters Patent No. 50,96l, dated November 14, 1865.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CHARLES G. SERGENT, of G1aniteville,iii the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful improvement iu squeezerolls and beater to be used in connection with machines for washing wool and for other similar purposes; andIdohereby declare thefollowing to be afull, clear, and exact description ofthe construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a side view of the machine in which my invention is embraced. Fig. 2 represents an end view thereof. Fig. 3 represents a vertical section taken longitudinally through the machine; and Fig. 4 represents the pivoted and weighted lever in which the beater is hung, and which also holds down the upper squeeze-roll and allows it and the beater to rise and fall together as the varying thicknesses of material passing through between the rolls may require.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate gures, denote like parts of the apparatus in all the drawings.

After wool has been washed it is usual to pass it through between squeeze-rollers to divest it of the water. In this squeezing process t-he wool often clings to the top roll, and, it' allowed to remain or accumulate, interrupts the operation by raising up the top roll, and thus allowing much of the material to pass through without being squeezed or divested of the wa ter which it takes up from the washing-tank. A beater has been used to work upon the material that passes between the rolls but this is not what I propose to use. My object is to clear the top of a pair of squeeze-rolls of all clinging matter by a beater that runs in close contact therewith and that rises and falls with it.

My invention consists in hanging and using a beater in connection with the top roll of a pair of squeezerolls, so that said beater shall knock oft' any and all wool that may cling to it.

It further consists in hanging the beater in weighted levers, which press also upon followers (or their equivalents) that bear upon the journals of the upper squeeze-roll, 4so that as said squeeze-roll rises and falls to accommodate itself to the varied thickness of the niaterial to be squeezed the beater shall rise and fall in a corresponding degree, and thus always maintain the same relative working position with regard to the roll which it clears, whether that roll rises or falls regularly or irregularly; and my invention further consists in combining with the squeeze-rolls and beater, arranged as herein described, an upward-inclined apron for catching, carrying up, and throwing over the washed and partially-dried wool and delivering it onto the floor or other suitable place.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and usemy invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

In a frame, A, is hung a roll, B, which runs in permanent bearings, and which roll may be driven by a belt from any Erst-moving power passing over a pulley, O, on one of its journals. Above this roll B, and in the frame A, is placed a second roll, D, the two forming a pair of squeezing-rollers, as will be explained.

Levers E (better shown in Fig. 4) are pivoted to the frame A at the point a, and these levers bear upon blocks or followers b, that in turn bear or press upon the journals ot' the upper roll, D, and hold it down with a yielding pressure against the lower roll.

Underneath the machine are pivoted the weighted levers F, whose free ends are loaded, as at G, and the levers E are connected to these weighted levers F by the rods d, so that, though the roll D may rise to accommodate a thicker stratum or flake of wool or other material to pass between it and its fellow, it will rise under very great resistance, and thus, whether it is a thicker or thinner stratum, it is equally squeezed, and with uniform pressure, or nearly so, and the friction between the rolls, or between the rolls and the material passing through between them, is sufficient to turn the upper roll.

From a pulley, e, on one of the journals of the upper roller an endless belt, f, passes up and over a pulley, g, on the journal ot' a beater, H, hung vertically over the upper roll or over the pair of rolls. This beater is hung in an arm, h, of the levers E, respectively, and as more distinctly seen in Fig. 4, and the weighted levers F draw it down'close to the upper roll, D, which it clears of all clinging matter, preventing it from winding on said upper roll, and preserving the proper workin g of the rolls. The beater H being controlled by the levers E,

and the levers E controlling the yielding roll D, the two run together and rise and fall together as the case may be, though the beaterl runs at a higher velocity than the roll.

I is the apron-frame in which an endless apron, i, runs over rollers j j', one of said rollers, j', being furnished with a pulley, 7c, from which an endless belt, Z, extends to and around a pulley, J, on one of thejournals of the under roll, B, and thus the whole apparatus is driven as above described.

The apron i is inclined upward f rom the rolls, so that the material is elevated in passing over it, and from thence may fall onto the iloor or other receiver.

Underneath the lower roll, B, there is a shield, m, that curves upward behind the roll and forms a close connection with the lower end of the carryingapron fi. The object of this shield isto catch andcarryoffthewatersqueezed out of the washed material, and all drainings and drippings therefrom.

By shifting the rod d on the levers E F, or by shifting the weights G on the levers F, or

by both, the pressure upon the roll D can be varied at pleasure.

,The beater prevents any wool from clinging to the roll D, its blades knocking it oil' whenever it adheres.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim in connection with the squeezerollers ot' wool-washing machines isl. In combination with the top roll of the pair, a revolving beater for knocking off any wool that may adhere thereto, substantially7 as described.

2. The combination and connection of the beater and top yielding roll with the frame, and with the weighted levers E, as and for the purpose substantially as herein described.

3. In combination with the squeeze-rolls and beater, arranged and operating substantially as herein described, the upwardinclining apron, as and for the purpose described.

CHAS. G. SARGENT.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK G. SAEGENT, LUTHER PREsoor'r. 

